FORM 3

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

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(Print or Type Responses)

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person *   Mehan Richard R. 2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (Month/Day/Year) 03/10/2009 3. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol CLIFFS NATURAL RESOURCES INC. [CLF] (Last) (First) (Middle) LEVEL 12, THE QUADRANT, 1 WILLIAM STREET 4. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable) _____ Director _____ 10% Owner __X__ Officer (give title below) _____ Other (specify below) SVP, Pres. & CEO Cliffs Asia-P 5. If Amendment, Date Original Filed(Month/Day/Year) (Street) PERTH, C3 6000 6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing(Check Applicable Line) _X_ Form filed by One Reporting Person ___ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person (City) (State) (Zip) Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned

1.Title of Security (Instr. 4) 2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned (Instr. 4) 3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5) 4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5) Common Stock 18,604 (1) D Â

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.			SEC 1473 (7-02)
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Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)

1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 4)	2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (Month/Day/Year)		3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 4)		4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	5. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares
Retention Units 2007-2009	  (2)	  (2)	Common Shares	600	$ (3)	D	Â
Retention Units 2008-2010	  (4)	  (4)	Common Shares	800	$ (3)	D	Â
Retention Units 2009-2011	  (5)	  (5)	Common Shares	1,225	$ (3)	D	Â

Reporting Owners

Reporting Owner Name / Address	Relationships
	Director	10% Owner	Officer	Other
Mehan Richard R. LEVEL 12, THE QUADRANT 1 WILLIAM STREET PERTH, C3 6000	Â	Â	  SVP, Pres. & CEO Cliffs Asia-P	Â

Signatures

George W. Hawk, Jr. by Power of Attorney		03/30/2009
**Signature of Reporting Person		Date

Explanation of Responses:

*	If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v).
**	Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
(1)	The number of securities held by the reporting person consists of 18,604 common shares previously acquired through the Cleveland-Cliffs Inc 1992 Incentive Equity Plan (as Amended and Restated May 13, 1997).
(2)	Retention Units granted to Reporting Person under the Cleveland-Cliffs Inc 2007 Incentive Equity Plan ("2007 Plan") covering the period of January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2009 (Retention Period). Retention units are paid out to the Reporting Person in cash based on the market value price of the Common Shares of the Issuer on the last day of the Retention Period.
(3)	Convertible into Common Shares on a 1-for-1 basis.
(4)	Retention Units granted to Reporting Person under the 2007 Plan covering the period of January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2010 (Retention Period). Retention units are paid out to the Reporting Person in cash based on the market value price of the Common Shares of the Issuer on the last day of the Retention Period.
(5)	Retention Units granted to Reporting Person under the 2007 Plan covering the period of January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2011 (Retention Period). Retention units are paid out to the Reporting Person in cash based on the market value price of the Common Shares of the Issuer on the last day of the Retention Period.

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